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  • Lightning Sessions are engaging, informative, and based on a powerful question or idea. With 20 image-based slides, advancing automatically 18 seconds to accompany, these short presentations, presented in rapid succession, are both fun and inspiring. Plenary room.
Lightning Sessions
Friday, March 9, 2018 | 13:30-14:45 

Strategies to Support Families in Global Transition with Gender Expansive and LGBTQ Youth

Laura Anderson

International living brings wonderful diversity. Yet, if family members have specialized needs for support, resources in country can be limited, and family stress can increase. This presentation will outline ways to support families with gender expansive and LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer) youth in expatriate communities. Research about protective factors for LGBTQ youth, including affirming family members and school communities, will be discussed. Dr Anderson will provide information about the impact that a child or adolescent’s Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity/Expression (SOGIE) often has on the youth’s daily life, as well the impact that SOGIE issues can have on family functioning. Supportive strategies at home and at school for LGBTQ youth and families will be discussed.

The Adventurous Journey of Leadership

Sue Aspinall

How traveling solo through Central Asia on route from Tokyo to The Hague taught me more about leading international schools than any course.

How Much Does Race Matter to You?

Meghan Fenn

An exploration of issues surrounding raising mixed-race, cross-cultural children in a foreign country when your race does not match your nationality. We'll be sharing experiences from the everyday, mundane comments or questions you get to the more complex sociological and emotional dilemmas we face when raising mixed-race children in a country that is culturally different to ours. Attendees will learn from each other during this empathetic and diverse exploratory session.

How to Teach a Brain to Achieve a Happy Global Life with Neuroplasticity

Birgit Kuschel and Annebet van Mameren

International life experience shapes the brain. We still underestimate how our minds and brains can help us in transition and change and the huge role they play in shaping our lives and realities. The more often we perform an action or behave a certain way, the more it gets physically wired into the brain. This fantastic adaptive quality of the brain is known as neuroplasticity. This session will help understand the steps, exercises and tools toward using our awareness in ways that promote well-being in transition and how we can use Neuroplasticity to work in the cross-culture environment for us.

The Role of Faith in Transition

Warren MacLeod

Security in one’s identity is crucial for stability in transition. To what extent does faith aid in the provision of this identity? How has faith affected the lives of those who live abroad? Warren presents an informal collection of thoughts on this topic from a variety of voices.

Is This My Problem To Fix? (Expat Guilt and Responsibility in the Developing World)

Adam Mosley


It's a question global business people, diplomats, missionaries, and nomads in the developing world must ask themselves: In the face of abject poverty, what is my response? How can we go beyond "hiring locals" and begin to mobilize effective solutions for the world's most significant problems? In this session, Adam discusses how a connected global family and a committed local tribe can join together to improve the quality of life for developing communities.
Why "Differently Wired" is the New Normal

Debbie Reber

As the mother of a differently-wired 13-year-old son (ADHD, Asperger's, gifted), Debbie Reber is on a mission to change the way neurodiversity is experienced for today's atypical children and the parents raising them. She believes neurodifferences aren't deficits in need of fixing, but rather are differences to be embraced and which come along with many strengths. This paradigm shift will only happen through talking openly about neurodiversity, confronting the stigmas that exist, and rejecting systems that don't accommodate these kids' unique way of moving through the world. In her presentation, Debbie introduces these concepts as a way to help people view neurodiversity through a more informed, positive lens.


Families in Global Transition
C/O Campbell Rappold & Yurasits LLP
1033 S Cedar Crest Blvd
Allentown, PA 18103, USA

Phone: +1 (703) 634-7400
Email: admin@figt.org

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